Southern Entrance of Heijing.
Only a final streak of sunset remained in the sky. At the top of the slope on the cliffside, two silhouettes appeared.
It was Tang Dao and Sheng Mingxi.
The two of them had been waiting in the mine tunnels, but Pei Ran's aircraft never came. They knew she must still be being chased by those fragmentation drones—or had run into some other trouble.
Waiting like this wasn't a solution. They gestured to each other, trying to communicate.
Sheng Mingxi had picked up a bit of Morse code from Tang Dao and Jin Hejun over the past few days. Her usage was clumsy, but she had a strong gift for expression, and somehow they managed to get their ideas across.
They were perfectly aligned in thought.
Rather than waiting for a pickup, they might as well walk themselves.
It was only a few kilometers ahead. Pei Ran had shown them what the Heijing entrance looked like—they wouldn't get lost.
The only issue was the ever-present threat of fusion types.
Fortunately, the local swarm of fragmentation drones had already been lured away by Pei Ran's aircraft. The sky above was clear and quiet.
They immediately agreed to take the risk and set out.
After leaving the mine tunnels, the path offered almost no cover. If any fragmentation drones showed up again, they'd be in serious trouble. They had to move fast.
Unlike the old, the sick, and the wounded in their group, the two of them were young, fit, and athletic. They practically ran the entire way.
Luck was on their side. They didn't run into any fusion types and eventually reached the Grand Rift shown on Pei Ran's map.
Standing at the edge of the rift, they could clearly see the massive white rock below.
Sheng Mingxi bent over, catching her breath. She raised a hand, and Tang Dao met it with a high five.
The finish line was in sight. They prepared to rush down the rift slope together.
Suddenly, the sound of aircraft engines filled the air. Both of them jumped and turned around.
Two aircraft—one behind the other—came into view. They resembled the sleek, droplet-shaped design of Pei Ran's craft, but they were silver and much larger.
They were standard aircraft, with no signs of mutation.
The two crafts ignored them, soaring overhead and descending steadily above the Grand Rift. They finally landed beside the massive white rock.
The rear aircraft opened its cabin door, and a person in a tailored suit stepped out, pulling out several large black suitcases.
In an apocalypse where most people were ragged, dust-covered, and on the run, the sight of such elegant aircraft and high-end luggage was surreal, like a glitch in time and space.
Tang Dao craned his neck to look more closely. The first thing he noticed was the emblem on the suitcases—
A three-headed iris.
From a single stalk, three iris blooms sprouted. The central bloom stood tall, while the other two curved outward symmetrically—shaped like a trident.
Tang Dao recognized it. It was the symbol of the royal family.
Long ago, before the Federation was unified, a powerful empire ruled the Eastern Manya continent. Its rulers were a dynasty of monarchs from this very royal lineage.
Eventually, the monarchy was abolished, their titles stripped. After years of war, the Federation unified and became what it is today.
So in theory, members of the royal family were now ordinary citizens of the Federation, no different from anyone else.
But in reality, things weren't quite so equal.
The royal family had spanned generations, and their fall had been relatively peaceful. They still controlled vast wealth.
Beyond their assets, they also retained deep-rooted influence within the Federation—an intricate network of connections and prestige that couldn't be ignored.
Stories about this mysterious royal family had circulated for years, the most sensational of which claimed that many of its members had a strange form of pica—
They ate human flesh.
The legend went that even hundreds of years ago, when their ancestors still sat on the throne, they practiced this. One monarch was said to have favored eating raw human ears—freshly cut from the living, so they'd be tender and crunchy.
But legend is legend. Such rumors are often unreliable. No one had ever stepped forward to claim they'd actually been eaten.
Tang Dao thought to himself—looks like Heijing had immediately dispatched aircraft to rescue the royal family.
Sure enough, several armed soldiers emerged from a crevice in the cliff and stepped forward to take the luggage.
More people disembarked from the aircraft—dressed in strange, eclectic styles.
Some were in immaculate suits, dressed as if heading to a high-level conference. Others looked entirely different. One young woman had flaming red hair. Another man had no right arm—his sleeve was neatly cut off, as if he were flaunting the empty space.
From the lead aircraft, the final passenger emerged.
As soon as he stepped out, someone approached and draped a coat over his shoulders.
Tang Dao looked from afar and only saw his back. Judging by his posture, he was undoubtedly a young man—broad-shouldered and long-legged.
A guide bowed deeply to him. He didn't respond and walked straight into the entrance of Heijing.
Tang Dao and Sheng Mingxi exchanged a glance.
The entrance was open. It was now or never.
They scrambled down the rift slope, desperate to reach it in time. But before they could make it, the figures had already disappeared into the camouflaged rock face, and the two aircraft lifted off again, heading north.
The two of them sprinted to the large white rock and bent over, panting heavily.
No one was around. Not only had the previous group left, but Pei Ran and the others who had arrived earlier were nowhere to be seen. It was unclear where they had gone.
The entrance to Heijing was right in front of them, but there was no visible sign of it.
Sheng Mingxi stepped forward out of curiosity, running her fingers along the red cliff face.
Tang Dao went over as well, feeling around with his hands, but came up empty. He wandered off to inspect the surroundings.
On the ground lay a large splatter of flesh and blood—someone had clearly died here. Nearby, a torn-up backpack lay discarded, its fabric shredded from an explosion. Its contents, some shattered, some half-intact, were scattered everywhere.
Tang Dao recognized it instantly. It belonged to the girl with the parrot.
Among the mess of debris, hidden in a gap beneath the clutter, a faint shimmer of green light sparkled on the red earth.
Tang Dao turned his head and glanced at Sheng Mingxi.
She was still focused on studying the cliff wall.
Seeing that she hadn't noticed anything, Tang Dao casually bent down, pretending to examine the debris on the ground.
One hand still in his pocket, he reached out with the other and tapped the shredded bird feed bag.
Beneath it, the green glimmer silently slipped into his palm.
High in the sky, Pei Ran was still piloting her aircraft eastward.
W suddenly spoke. "Pei Ran, Heijing's surveillance at the southern entrance has spotted Tang Dao and Sheng Mingxi. They've made it on their own and are right outside the entrance. Someone will meet them and bring them in."
Pei Ran acknowledged with a soundless reply in her mind.
She was pushing herself hard.
Now that she no longer had to pick up Sheng Mingxi and the others, she could head directly to Heijing. In just a few more minutes, she'd reach the entrance.
But something suddenly appeared in the sky—not far away, behind a cliff, a large flock of creatures burst forth.
They looked like giant birds—
That same familiar swarm of Human-Fragment Drones.
The area around Yelcha was teeming with these creatures. You chased one swarm off, and another would take its place.
Pei Ran jerked her aircraft northeast and accelerated sharply.
The Human-Fragment Drones couldn't keep up; just like last time, she quickly left them in the dust.
But this time, five strange new models broke away from the swarm and picked up speed in pursuit.
They were a new variant—much larger than the drones mounted on the Human-Fragment bellies. These had fully intact fuselages and no human fragments visible. But each one had a human head at its front.
Those heads strained upward, their dead eyes locked tightly on Pei Ran.
W took one look and said, "These are military-grade unmanned drones, developed in the northern military factories. They're called Explorers. Capable of executing a wide range of reconnaissance and attack operations."
And they'd been fused with humans, too.
Military tech—on an entirely different level than civilian aircraft.
Pei Ran snapped to attention. "What's their method of attack?"
"They're still in the experimental stage," W replied. "They shouldn't be armed with any—"
Before he could finish, a sharp whoosh—a clear, colorless liquid shot toward them like a bullet.
Even W sounded puzzled. "What is that?"
Pei Ran instantly understood how the Explorer drone in the lake had gotten its cockpit corroded, and how Captain Xiao Hai had sustained those injuries.
W caught on too. "It's a new chemical weapon under development by the military factory's R&D division. Highly corrosive. Looks like it's been integrated into the fusion model."
Pei Ran didn't care if it was new, old, tested, or not. She immediately cranked up the speed, fleeing for her life.
But these weren't your average Human-Fragment Drones.
The Explorers were much faster—hauntingly fast—sticking to her tail like phantoms.
And they spat.
The corrosive liquid came flying again. If she got hit, she'd end up just like Captain Xiao Hai—flesh and metal rotting away.
Steering with her feet, Pei Ran shouted, "W, use the folding arms to take over piloting!"
W obeyed without hesitation, his metal claws gripping the handles.
Pei Ran let go of the controls and turned back, summoning Greenlight One from within her.
It answered her call instantly, well-fed and responsive.
She locked onto the chasing Explorers and, as they closed the distance and grouped tightly together, began writing in her mind's eye:
[Explorers explode]
This time, she tried writing five characters. It worked.
After she wrote the fifth character, Greenlight One even bounced slightly to the right, as if to say: "I've got more in me."
Which meant… she could now probably write out the full name of the drug JTN35.
The thought passed in a flash. No time to reflect—right now, the Explorers needed to be dealt with.
She punctuated the command with a period.
In the sky, a series of loud explosions rocked the air.
The five aggressive Explorers were instantly blown to bits.
Even W sounded like he breathed a sigh of relief.
Pei Ran veered southeast.
The aircraft surged forward, skimming over the undulating red terrain.
Moments later, a familiar canyon yawned open before her.
The entrance to Heijing was just ahead.
She began lowering altitude.
But as she pushed the descent lever, the pedal under her foot suddenly jolted violently.
With a loud mechanical crack, the aircraft dropped like a stone.
Heijing Base
Inside the command center.
Marshal Veina asked, "Agent W, what's your status?"
W responded calmly, "We are crashing."
The patrol drone's feed reappeared on the main screen. The camera was diving fast.
Marshal Veina's heart tightened, but she kept her eyes on the feed.
"Are you near the southern canyon?"
"Yes. Close to Heijing's south entrance."
CEO Basserway scowled at the screen. "I still insist—for the safety of Heijing, this girl on the verge of mutation must not be allowed inside."
General Eugene snapped, "The girl you're referring to just saved Heijing. In my view, not only should she be let in—we should give her the best medical intervention we have to control the mutation."
Basserway: "General, you're being emotional. That's not rational."
General Eugene coldly retorted, "When I was irrationally fighting in the Third Federation Homeland Unification War, you were probably still rationally eating your baby formula."
This time, they genuinely started arguing.
The Minister of Finance stepped in to mediate. "Let's not lose sight of the big picture. Everyone's a little tense—understandably. I just want to remind you that according to Heijing protocol, contentious issues should be decided by vote of the Interim Emergency Council."
Veina nodded. "Agent W."
A small screen popped up in front of each council member, showing only two options: approve or reject.
General Eugene jabbed his vote in fury.
Basserway followed just as decisively.
The other members slowly cast theirs.
Veina looked down at her own screen.
The vote was recorded by name, not shown on the main screen—but visible to all members.
The council had split into two camps.
Veina, General Eugene, and the rest of the military voted to approve.
Basserway and the remaining federal administration voted against.
Only one had crossed sides—Lieutenant General Delsa voted with Basserway's camp.
Veina stared at the results in silence.
Ever since the crisis, military and government personnel had streamed into Heijing, forming the Interim Emergency Council. Each person had one vote.
During the rescue operations, Veina had carefully maintained the numbers so that the military always had one more vote than Basserway's faction.
But now, the result was clear: the against votes had won—by a single vote.
Veina raised her head.
"Agent W, per the council's vote, the question of allowing Dormant One-Five-Nine-Three into Heijing is hereby postponed."
Postponed meant shelved. Everyone knew it. In a few hours, Pei Ran would fully mutate into a deranged fusion being—beyond saving.
Silence fell. Veina continued:
"Agent W, once the aircraft hits the ground, I order your patrol unit to immediately disengage and enter Heijing with the data module."
W answered smoothly, "Your order is recorded."
An AI is still just an AI. Absolute obedience. Veina relaxed and looked back to the screen.
The aircraft's descent had stabilized. Pei Ran was managing to pull it back up.
Altitude was regained slightly, but the vehicle trembled and sputtered like an old junker.
Finally, it limped over the canyon.
On board, W was executing the emergency landing sequence.
Corrosive fluid was slowly seeping through the fuselage, eating away at components. Control was slipping.
W's voice came through steadily. "Flight attitude is off. Press the left pedal—"
Pei Ran cut him off. "Left pedal's dead."
"Then pull up the control lever. Bring speed down to halfway..."
In the middle of everything, he asked her:
"Pei Ran, can you still use your ability?"
Right after detonating the Explorers, she'd sent Greenlight One to continue devouring the deranged light-points inside her.
Greenlight One had refused. Too full.
But it was still conscious.
Pei Ran summoned it again, and this time it came.
Standing ready in her mind's eye.
She replied firmly: "Yes. I can still use it."
But she wasn't sure—how would writing in her head help with a crash landing?
Was she supposed to write "Smooth Landing"? It felt like tying a prayer ribbon at a temple.
And Greenlight One was better known for explosions, not miracles.
"Good," said W. "Save it for the right moment."
Pei Ran suddenly realized—
W didn't believe her power could handle a smooth landing.
So what was his plan?
No time to dwell on it.
"We're in position," W said. "Right pedal—now. Steady—We're going down…"
Pei Ran stomped the pedal.
It wasn't a landing. It was a fall.
A brutal loss of gravity.
The metal orb spun midair, turning to look at Pei Ran.
This journey was about to end.
The days they'd spent breaking arms, yanking intestines, running across the dam under nightfall—
All of it was stored, untouched, in a forgotten server corner.
Goodbye, Pei Ran.
The ground surged up. A violent impact.
Dust burst through the broken cockpit, pouring in like a tidal wave.